Then, in a broken voice, Colin whispered, “I love you, Jihae.”
* * *
“I love you more than anything, baby.” His voice caught in his throat as his heartfelt admission tore free of him.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. As soon as he’d left his grandmother’s house several days ago, Colin had gone to pick out an engagement ring. He was an optimistic son of a bitch. Knowing her kindness, her goodness, he’d let himself hope that maybe he had a chance of keeping her. That somehow she would forgive him and give him another chance. If she were to forgive him, he didn’t plan on wasting a single second with her. He was going to propose to her.
But the timing hadn’t been right the last few days. They’d worked long, hard hours, and by the time they were alone together, they were too exhausted to talk. And today she’d been so scared and suffering. When she’d told him she loved him, his heart burst inside him and set off beautiful fireworks of hope.
He was supposed to tell her that he loved her first. After he’d told her the truth, he was supposed to beg her for forgiveness and offer her his love. He didn’t want her to feel humiliated by his duplicity any more than necessary. But now, with her love out in the open, she was going to feel doubly humiliated. Doubly betrayed.
He should have told her sooner. Much sooner. He had been a coward and now the little hope he had might be blown forever.
Once their breaths returned to normal, he gently sat her to the side and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
“I need to clean up. I’ll be right back,” he said.
She smiled tremulously and nodded.
He was a goddamn bastard. He went into the guest bathroom and stepped under the shower. He let the hot water wash over him, wishing it could wash away his guilt. But what was done was done. He couldn’t change that, but he would do the right thing tonight.
Colin found her in the kitchen, holding a steaming mug of tea. Her hair was wet and tucked behind her ears, and she looked cozy in her pale blue pajamas. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes, suddenly shy.
“I made you some tea,” she said, pointing to a steaming mug on the island.
He took a seat in front of it and motioned for Jihae to sit beside him. As he gathered his courage to reveal his secrets, she said in a soft, faraway voice, “I just found out today that my father was a criminal, and he had been planning to set me up to take the fall for his actions.”
“He what?” Colin roared. She didn’t deserve that. Her bastard of a father didn’t deserve Jihae. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Are you all right?”
“Don’t worry. He tried to set me up, but failed. I acted out of character and didn’t obey him down to the letter. I’m safe. Legally.” She turned wide eyes to him, cocking her head to the side. “Aren’t you going to ask me what this is all about?”
He attempted to swallow and failed, then answered, “I think I know exactly what this is all about.”
“What are you talking about? How could you know any of it?”
“Will you promise to hear me out? Will you give me a chance to explain?”
“You could tell me anything. What’s going on, Colin?” she asked, putting her soft hand on top of his trembling one.
“I’m Colin Song.”
“Yes, and I’m Jihae Park,” she said lightly, but unease crept into her expression.
“I am Colin Song, one of the heirs to Hansol Corporation, and Garrett Song’s cousin.”
She’d picked up her mug to sip her tea, but it came crashing down on the island, shattering against the marble. “What are you saying? I don’t understand.”
“Careful,” he yelled. “You’re going to hurt—”
She didn’t hear him, or she didn’t care. She pushed herself up to her feet with her hands on the counter. A jagged piece of the mug cut a bright line in her tender palm, but she didn’t even flinch.
“Tell me!”
“Please, baby. You’re hurt. Just let me stop the bleeding on your hand, and I’ll tell you everything.”
She backed against a wall and lifted her bloody palm to ward him off. “Stay where you are. Don’t you dare come near me.”
“Jihae—”
“Tell. Me. Now.”
He needed to do as she asked if there was any chance of calming her down.
“I kept my identity a secret from you because I wanted you to see CS Productions on its merits. My team shouldn’t suffer the burden of my connections. My family has nothing to do with CS Productions.”
“You thought your cousin’s jilted fiancée couldn’t possibly know the difference between personal life and professional life?” Coldness seeped into her voice, but at least she appeared to be calming down. He suspected the next part would shatter that calm again.
“There was more than that. Rotelle had planted a spy in Hansol Corporation that could have derailed Garrett from becoming the CEO. Despite our PI’s best efforts to figure out the extent of the espionage so the family could bring a legal case against Rotelle, the trail had run cold. And I wanted to find out something helpful for the investigation. I wanted to help my family find justice.”
“So you lied to me to avenge your family. In your eyes, I was already guilty by association.”
“The spy your father recruited through Yami Corp. was Garrett’s wife’s former lover. He had set it up so Natalie would take the fall for the espionage. Garrett nearly lost his wife and daughter because of that. Because of the way your father attacked Garrett and Natalie so specifically, we didn’t doubt you were involved.”
Blood drained so completely from her face that her lips matched her pale skin. “That’s because my father is very thorough in his deviousness. If evidence of the espionage attempt somehow led to him, he set it up so that I would take the fall for it. He’d even timed my arrival in the States to match the commencement of his scheme.”
“Did you find that out today? God, that bastard. How could he do that to you? I’m so sorry—”
“Shut. Your. Mouth. You have no right to be sorry for my father’s betrayal when you betrayed me so thoroughly. You used me.”
“I was an idiot. I thought I was doing it for my family. To pay them back for their love and support.” This was a nightmare. He was drowning in fear, and he couldn’t see the light above. “But from the day I started working with you, I knew in my gut that you had nothing to do with the espionage scheme. Then you confirmed in your conversation with your father that you didn’t even know who Yami Corp. was—”